In Rootworld, flowers are not symbols of meaning.
They are how meaning is transmitted when speech is dangerous.

FAUNA OF ROOTWORLD

Life That Moves With Purpose

In Rootworld, animals are not accidents of evolution.
They are responses.

Fauna emerge where energy pools, where imbalance persists, or where systems require correction. Some are ancient, shaped over millennia. Others appear suddenly, born whole from ecological necessity. None exist without reason.

To ask why a creature exists in Rootworld is not philosophical.

It is practical.

The Foundational Principle

Rootworld fauna operate under a simple law:

No creature exists solely to survive.
Each exists to regulate something else.

Predators manage population density.
Grazers redistribute nutrients.
Migratory beasts regulate energy flow between strata.
Apex entities correct failures too large for subtler life.

Fauna are functions given flesh.

Categories of Rootworld Fauna

🌱 Stabilizers

Creatures whose presence maintains equilibrium.

These animals are often overlooked:

• Driftgrazers that compress soil without damaging roots

• Stillwater filter-beasts that prevent ocean stagnation

• Burrowing tunnel fauna that relieve pressure in cavern strata

They are calm, slow, and rarely aggressive.

Their disappearance is an emergency.

🐾 Predatory Regulators

Hunters that prevent excess—of life, of growth, of arrogance.

Predators in Rootworld:

• Rarely hunt the weak

• Target surplus or aberration

• Avoid stable ecosystems

Creatures like Phase Panthers or Threadfoxes do not patrol randomly. They appear where correction is overdue.

Being hunted is not punishment.

It is diagnosis.

🦋 Signal Fauna

Small, sensitive creatures that reflect systemic health.

Examples include:

• Glowmoths that cluster where balance holds

• Chimefin shoals that react to emotional residue in water

• Sporebirds that avoid corrupted zones

These animals do not defend themselves.

They leave.

Which is often worse.

🐘 Transitional Giants

Massive fauna that move energy between biomes.

These creatures:

• Migrate vertically between strata

• Carry spores, heat, or psychic residue

• Create temporary ecosystems in their wake

They are slow, deliberate, and deeply respected.

To obstruct their migration is considered ecological violence.

🕷 Corrective Entities

Rare, dangerous fauna that emerge when systems fail.

These creatures are:

• Short-lived but devastating

• Highly specialized

• Often misunderstood as “monsters”

They do not spread.
They resolve.

Once correction is complete, they vanish—or die.

Behavioral Traits

Rootworld fauna share common characteristics:

• Efficiency: No wasted movement

• Restraint: Violence is precise

• Awareness: Many respond to intent, not just action

• Memory: Animals remember harm and adapt behavior accordingly

Repeated mistakes are met with escalation.

Relationship With Intelligent Species

Fauna are not domesticated.

They are negotiated with.

Fauns, Floroids, and Rootbound understand:

• Which paths are invitations

• Which behaviors provoke attention

• Which animals are omens

Drow study fauna tactically.
Surface-Kin misinterpret them as hostile.

Both pay different prices.

Death and Consumption

Nothing in Rootworld kills without purpose.

When fauna die:

• Energy is reclaimed rapidly

• Remains feed new growth

• Bones retain memory

This is why Bone Tech is sacred and regulated.

To harvest fauna wastefully is taboo.

Misconception of “Monsters”

Surface-Kin label hostile fauna as monsters.

Rootworld does not recognize this category.

There are only:

• Stable life

• Corrective life

• Failed responses

The last is the most dangerous.

THE VERDANT CANT

Rootworld Fauna, Flora, and the Language of Silent Messages

“When words are monitored, roots still speak.”

In Rootworld, communication does not always travel through sound or light.
It travels through arrangement.

Long before Surface-Kin arrival, Rootworld civilizations developed a system of encoded ecological messaging, using curated bouquets of flora and attendant fauna behavior to convey intent, warning, affection, defiance, or condemnation.

To outsiders, these are decorations.
To Rootworld natives, they are sentences.

🌿 The Verdant Cant (Rootworld Floriography)

Known as the Verdant Cant, this system is inspired by ancient floriographic traditions—like those once used in the Victorian era—but evolved into a far more precise, living syntax.

Meaning is derived from:

• Species selection

• Arrangement geometry

• Growth state

• Bioluminescent phase

• Presence or absence of fauna

A bouquet is never just a bouquet.

It is a statement.

🐾 FAUNA AS PUNCTUATION

In Rootworld, animals complete the message.

A flower arrangement without fauna is unfinished.

Glowmoths

Small bioluminescent moths that cluster selectively.

• Hovering calmly: Message acknowledged

• Erratic flight: Warning ignored

• Absence: Hostile territory

Their presence acts as punctuation—commas, pauses, emphasis.

Threadfoxes

Lean, silk-furred predators that move silently through forest corridors.

• Passing through an arrangement: Neutral observation

• Lingering nearby: Protected territory

• Marking the ground: Explicit threat

Threadfox behavior turns floral messages into binding declarations.

Chimefin Shoals

Schools of tiny aquatic creatures found in Rootworld’s suspended lakes.

• When integrated into water-based arrangements, their movement patterns indicate:

  • Circular motion: Agreement

  • Vertical rise: Mourning

  • Sudden dispersal: Betrayal discovered

🌸 FLORAL LEXICON (SELECT ENTRIES)

Below are commonly recognized Rootworld equivalents to Victorian flower meanings—but with consequence.

Whisperwood Sprigs

• Meaning: “You are being observed.”

• Used diplomatically or as a warning

• When paired with cut ends facing inward, it means: “We know what you did.”

Pulseleaf Fronds

• Meaning: “The system is unstable.”

• Fast bioluminescent pulse = imminent correction

• Slow pulse = opportunity to withdraw

Placed near dwellings, this is a mercy.

Frostveil Petals

• Meaning: “Silence is required.”

• Often used during negotiations

• When placed upside-down: “Speech will worsen this.”

Cinderbloom Ash Cones

• Meaning: “This will burn, but must.”

• Used before controlled destruction

• A sign that violence is regrettable—but necessary

Drow use this rarely.

Auric Spore Vials

• Meaning: “We remember your suffering.”

• Common at memorial sites

• Saturated glow indicates unresolved trauma

Removing these without permission is considered desecration.

💐 BOUQUETS AS SENTENCES

Individual flowers are words.
Arrangements are grammar.

Example: A Quiet Ultimatum

• Whisperwood sprig (center)

• Pulseleaf fronds (three, uneven)

• Frostveil petals (edge, downward)

• Glowmoths absent

Translation:

“We are watching.
Balance is failing.
Do not speak.
Leave.”

Example: Forbidden Affection

• Rootglass vine looped gently

• Auric spores at half-saturation

• Glowmoths hovering in pairs

Translation:

“This bond is dangerous.
We accept the risk.”

Often used by Rootbound lovers.

🌿 HOW THE ROOTBOUND USE IT

Rootbound Surface-Kin adopt the Verdant Cant instinctively.

It allows them to:

• Communicate without Surface surveillance

• Show allegiance without declarations

• Warn others without escalating

Surface soldiers are trained to ignore floral arrangements.

This has proven… costly.

ROOTWORLD RESPONSE

The Verdant Cant is not symbolic.

It is recognized by the ecosystem itself.

When a message is issued:

• Fauna behavior shifts accordingly

• Predators may enforce boundaries

• Growth patterns alter to support intent

To misuse the Cant—to lie with flowers—is to invite correction.

Rootworld does not tolerate false messages.

📖 ONE-SENTENCE LORE SUMMARY

In Rootworld, flowers are not gifts—they are declarations, and the forest enforces their meaning.